Corporate Corruption

We read in 1 Timothy 6:10 that: "For the love of money is the root of all evil…"  This Scripture reading is quite familiar to virtually all people and certainly very familiar to those that work in important and meaningful positions at corporations.  Of course, corporations are concerned about all sorts of things, but at the end of the day, most public for-profit corporations are most concerned about either making money or developing a sure path to getting more money or for getting more market share or for simply getting more.  This corporate desire for ever improving gross margins, for ever increasing sales, and for meeting and exceeding quarterly expectations, places significant pressure on all those that work there to do what is necessary to achieve those goals.  While there may be very specific rules and regulations within a given corporate entity of what is and isn't allowed, when it comes to the money aspect of it all, just the basic allure of money, seems to trump all good judgment.

The first step in any contemplated corruption is simply taking a given rule which is clearly quite black and white, and deciding that instead, that there is room to negotiate around the edges of it.  In virtually all cases, corruption begins first with the thought, once the thought has begun, the pathways for achieving the desired result become quite clear, and soon the execution of the thought is finalized and the deal is done.  It doesn't matter much if the actual originality of the idea comes from you, or whether, in fact you have piggy-backed upon the ideas of another person, or been told to do it, or simply become a copycat of what you know or perceive that others have done themselves.

The beauty of corporate corruption, unlike your own personal corruption, is that your fallback excuse is that you have done this for the good of the company, and not for your individual glory or benefit.   Often times, there is truth in this statement, in fact, sometimes corruption actually costs you some money in order to pull it off, but you are willing to make this sacrifice because the payoff or the gift that you have provided, is the tool that will nail down the order for the corporation and thereby benefit the greater whole. 

Also too, fueling the fires of corruption is being in a situation to which you know that your bid is the fairest and best but instead of rightfully winning the bid, instead you lose that bid to another bidder because they made an arrangement or similar with the awarder of such.  In these types of situations, there are only so many times that you can return to corporate headquarters with the message that you have failed, before you vow or are placed in the necessity of achieving success.  It is in these types of situations, that the true character of a man is met, and so often, in a corporate world of justifications, equivocations, exceptions, and the bliss of seeing just about everything in "shades of gray" as opposed to black or white, the corruption is enacted.

While there are many laws that deal with corruption and its many facets both internal to corporations as well as universal within America, as long as the major metric that measures a company's worth is the amount of money that profits its executives and its stockholders, the temptation to make a way will be the way, over and over again.

At-Will Employment

The concept of at-will employment always favor the employer and never favors the employee, because in short, at-will employment, means that either party, that is the employer or employee can sever their work relationship at any time, without notice, and for basically any reason that is not in conflict with a higher law.  This means that the employer can at any time fire or dismiss you from the job that provides all of your income and/or health benefits without your consent, whereas you, as the employee, have the basic right to quit at any time, hardly a right that is equal in concept or in effect.

There can be exceptions to the full effect of at-will employment, for instance at-will employment can be superseded by State or Federal law, and in addition at-will employment is subject to certain exemptions, depending upon the State or the city of your employment, to wit exemptions such as Public Policy, Implied Contract, and Good Faith may apply.  Also, there are certain job segments to which typically employees are not treated at-will which are government employees of either State or of the Federal government, and union employees that have enacted a collective bargaining agreement with the employer, which has specific rules attached to it in regards to the termination of employment.  In the absence, of working for the government, or of being part of a recognized Union with a contract with the employer, most other American employees are employed at-will, whether or not they have signed a document to that effect.

While it is fair to say that most Americans would not disagree that an employer has the right to fire you for just cause, very few Americans would agree that your employer should be able to terminate you, without a good and valid reason, yet, at-will employment essentially means that your employment is in danger of being terminated at any time, for virtually any reason, or in jurisdictions to which there aren't further lawful protections, for no reason at all.  That type of mindset is inherently unfair, and while non-government employment companies should have the flexibility to promote or to layoff employees at their discretion, that right should be tempered by laws that fairly protect the employee.

Additionally, in an era of merger and acquisitions, it is of enormous benefit to companies that are either looking to acquire or looking to be acquired to have their labor force setup in such a way that their employees are all classified as at-will, because that gives the acquirer of such a company the powerful flexibility to terminate, layoff, or let go, any and all employees not deemed redundant or necessary for their continuing operations of the merged organization, which often times means a massive savings in terms of labor cost.

In today's world, many employees survive literally paycheck to paycheck, to which if they were to lose their employment; this would have an immediate and detrimental effect upon their lifestyle and ability to take care of obligations.  Most employees only want from their employer, a fair deal, nothing more and nothing less, so that if they as an employee have done their part, they should then expect in return that their employer should honor theirs as well.  A handshake between a new employee and employer should mean something, and what that should mean should supersede the bogus conception of "at-will".

Yellow Cards in Soccer

Different sports have different penalties for infractions and egregious fouls, to which soccer has its own special and unique rules dealing with these incidents.  In soccer, there are two basic offenses, there is the straight red card which is issued to players for the most serious fouls and for obvious infractions such as illegally denying the opposing team a goal-scoring opportunity, and then there is the yellow card, for bad fouls that aren't quite worthy of the red card, persistent fouling, professional fouls, and other assorted things that are an infringement to basic good sportsmanship.  The difference between a red card and a yellow card, is a red card is an immediate dismissal from the game itself, whereupon, that team will have to play the remainder of the match shorthanded, which is a significant disadvantage, whereas for the first yellow card on a player, there is no dismissal, however, for a second yellow card on the same player in the same game, those two yellow cards equate to a red card, and the player is dismissed from the field of action.  So in summary, a red card means immediate dismissal from the game, whereas one yellow card is a caution to a particular player, but should that player get a second yellow card they too will be dismissed from the game.  In soccer, it is neither infrequent for a red card to be issued to an offending player, nor is it infrequent for one player to be dismissed through two yellow cards.  However, in regards to a yellow card, the field manager of the team does have an option, of removing said player from the field through a substitution if he has not already used up all his substitutes.   Anytime, any player receives a yellow card on the field, a good manager should immediately consider his options so as to better protect his team from suffering the ill effects of a second yellow card, and consequent dismissal of that player.

As discussed in the newyorker.com, it is estimated that the removal of a player from the soccer field, "… cost the offending teams about .015 goals per minute left in a game," which basically means that playing short-handed is not something that you ever want to have occur to your team.  This should signify, that when any player receives a yellow card, the manager should determine that player's value as compared to the disadvantage of being short-handed, should that occur, and consequently that is why a manager should make it a liberal policy to substitute players that are on a yellow card.  Of course, not all players are created equal in either their abilities or in their propensity to get a second yellow card.  For instance, neither goal keepers nor strikers should typically need to be replaced, because strikers typically have limited defensive duties, whereas goalkeepers are typically given the benefit of the doubt in controlling their area of the pitch.  However, for defenders, to which it is their main purpose to prevent the opposing side from getting good chances on goal, as well as midfielders that are there to control the pace and content of the game, serious consideration for their removal must be taken into account.  The fact of the matter is there are only possibly a few elite players in the game that are worth .015 goals per minute, so the better part of valor is to err on caution and subsequently to take the issue of a yellow card to your player as something that does necessitate a valid counter-move.

Why is Hawaii so much Richer than Puerto Rico?

Both Hawaii and Puerto Rico became United States territories in 1898, with Hawaii becoming the 50th and last State of our union in 1959, while Puerto Rico still remains a US territory.  Hawaii is located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, far away from the mainland.  The closest US city to Honolulu is San Francisco, and yet that flight distance is 2082 miles.  The closest major non-USA city from a different continent to Honolulu is Tokyo, Japan, and that flight distance is 3854 miles.  In contrast, San Juan, Puerto Rico is 1031 miles away from Miami, Florida, and some 3,661 miles away from Lisbon, Portugal.  Additionally, while Hawaii is literally in an ocean far away from any mainland, Puerto Rico is surrounded by many other islands in the Caribbean, as well as being close to Central America and South America.  One would think, giving the location of Puerto Rico, that it would have little problem of being equal to or greater than Hawaii in regards to its income, but in fact, Hawaii according to the Census Bureau Median Family Income as reported by justice.gov tells us that for a "1 Earner Family Size", Hawaii has a median income of $53,751, whereas Puerto Rico comes in at a mere $23,168.  This means that Puerto Rico's median family income is lower than any of the US fifty states, as well as being lower in median income than Guam, the Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands (all US territories).

On the surface, this doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense, Puerto Rico, in the sense of beauty, weather, and location, would appear to be the equal to or comparable to Hawaii, although this is obviously something that is relatively subjective.  While, Hawaii and Puerto Rico are both tourist dependent, as well as being recipients of US military investment, Hawaii does have the all-important naval military base at Pearl Harbor, whereas Puerto Rico lacks this; but they are similar in their capabilities in regards to agriculture, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, and although Hawaii does have more graduates with Bachelor Degrees than Puerto Ricans, the disparity of 26.6% to 21.2%, while significant, is not substantial. 

It is also possible too that Puerto Rico, suffers from a brain drain, to which ambitious Puerto Ricans leave the island, and move onto the mainland to search for their wealth and employment opportunities there, since native-born Puerto Ricans are considered to be United States citizens and hence have no barrier to entry.  While that definitely makes sense, that doesn't answer the question as to why native Hawaiians' aren't too doing the very same thing.

Perhaps, finally, Hawaii is so much richer than Puerto Rico because Hawaii has attracted a large influx of foreign capital from places such as Japan, China, and Korea, to which each of these countries have people of enormous wealth that have a vested interest in seeing that some of their money is invested in American land and/or industry, and Hawaii is the closest United States state, with a population that is already heavily Asian and also easily accommodates such money.  Puerto Rico, on the other hand, is probably considered to be just another Latin American country, having therefore more in common with Central and South American countries that were formerly colonized by Spain, and despite its status as a US territory of over one hundred years, making little progress in assimilating itself to America.

We are Co-Creators with God

There is a general misconception that God is the Father and that we are something far less than sons and daughters to Him, but this is not actually true.  We are much more than what we often think that we are, for we are, in truth, co-creators with God himself.  This means, that just as God has no beginning and thereby no ending, so we too have always existed in the Word of God and will always exist as co-creators to the Master Creator himself.  The confusion as to our immortality rests in the wrongful assumption that the physical body is our essence, it is not, as it is merely the recipient of our mind, our spirit, and our soul.  Further to this confusion, is our own unworthiness in sin as well as in our actions, which convicts us within our very essence that we are unworthy to completely re-unite with God, until we have shaken off or worked out our own imperfections so as to be perfect in He who is perfection Himself.

Another question might too be raised as to why would any soul wish to ever leave our Lord in the first place, but here though is the lesson of the prodigal son which applies to all who reside here on earth, that those that wish to have what is rightfully theirs as an inheritance will have this given to them, as God will not stand in the way of any soul exercising its own free will, and when that soul finds out, as all must, thattheir way is not the way, he will return, humbler, but at the same time, welcomed in open arms by the Lord who turns none away, no matter how far the journey, and no matter how distant the country. 

Jeremiah 1:5 reads:  "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee," which signifies that before our birth onto this earth plane, that we were already in existence, so subsequently no new souls are created, they have always been, and they will always be, as you cannot create immortality out of mortality.  God is omnipresent, He is everywhere, and we are created in His image, not as pathetic imitations or little puppets, but as one in the Father--no less and no greater than He.  Any perceived separation from our Father which art in Heaven is our own misreading of what is available for each and every one of us.   

It too might be helpful to picture yourself as a little child with a new toy, a fascinating toy that can do just about everything that you could possibly imagine or that you could possibly put your mind to, while no doubt, there would be great things of beauty you might well conceive of, so too, there might be great things of horror, such as the unleashing of your very own Pandora's box.  Yet, through it all, good or bad, in the end, all will return to how it was in the beginning, as nothing mortal can ever overcome anything of immortality, no matter how dire or pleasant it may be.  Remember from John 1: 5 that; "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."  We that are one with God, are that light.

Sports Franchise Values Will Soon Peak

First consider this, Jerry Jones purchased the Dallas Cowboys of the NFL in 1989 for $140 million, to which Forbes magazine estimates its current worth at $3.2 billion.  Donald Sterling purchased the NBA LA Clippers (formerly the San Diego Clippers) for $12.5 million in 1981, and sold the franchise to Steve Ballmer in 2014 for $2 billion.  Businessinsider.com states: "In 1973, George Steinbrenner led a group that purchased the New York Yankees from CBS for $8.7 million. Forty-two years later, the franchise is now worth $3.2 billion."  While it is understood that the value of a dollar today is considerably less than when these particular businessmen purchased these sports franchises, clearly, based on today's valuations, these already superrich owners have made an incredible amount of money for being in the sports entertainment business, indicating that the owning of big-time franchises isn't really something that owners do as a matter of mindless entertainment for the privileged, but in fact, is a way to demonstrably increase their net worth considerably, on the backs of the taxpayers, the unsuspecting public, and the skills of the ballplayers themselves.

The business of sports franchises in America is really about the business of maximizing their product for the express benefit of the elite ownership.  For instance, the NFL, the NBA, and MLB either specifically have salary caps on player salary expenses or a luxury cap which serves essentially the same purpose in capping salary payroll.  There are very few businesses that can control their labor expenses, labor contracts, and so forth at the degree that these major sport franchises do without being possibly subject to expensive lawsuits for what would typically be seen as both an antitrust violation as well as collusion.  Additionally, these owners have to a considerable extent received "sweetheart" deals for stadium or arenas being built to franchise their teams to which they have often received at least one of the following: tax reductions or privileges, land cost reductions or privileges, rent reductions or privileges, concession reductions or privileges, and often are not even responsible for the cost of the actual edifice itself.

Throughout recent years, just about everything that franchise owners have wanted to get, they have received, but the easy money is approaching its end and franchise values will never appreciate from their current high levels at anything approaching what these shrewd aforementioned businessmen paid for their respective franchises in the previous century.  While sports franchises generate important revenue from licensing, merchandizing, and ticket sales, the bulk of its most essential revenue comes from television, and television is able to pay billions of dollars for these sports because they get their revenue from national advertisers, and the advertisers advertise because of the viewership of these sports.  However, therein lies the rub, as you might suspect, the viewership of sports is not necessarily the demographic that is most desirable, because sports appeal more to males, and typically more to adults ages 35 and up.  Additionally, this is the age of the internet as well as the variety and versatility of multi-media outlets that people can interrelate to, which signifies that the norm in watching television sporting events on TV is in the process of mutating into something else.

While the major sport franchises have grown accustomed to ever better deals and thereby ever higher amounts of money negotiated from the major TV networks; should that formula change, and it will, sports franchise values will change with it, and because the value of these franchises are based on future projections, those that read the tea leaves better will be the sellers of such and not the buyers.

Mr. [First Name]

In the process of growing up I was familiar with a few different salutations, such as Mr. [Last Name], my last name without the mister, a nickname, by my first name, perhaps once in a blue moon by my entire name [first, middle, and last] and my personal favorite which was when I received mail from certain relatives, as Master [First, Last Name} which when you are a young kid, just makes you blush with happiness.  When it comes to how I was addressed, I never cared for my last name being used without a Mister or some other sign of respect, so just using my last name, I always found to be extremely annoying and my response to that usage would typically burn inside.  As for nicknames, it would of course depend upon the nickname, as some nicknames are hurtful, while others are pleasurable, and then there are generic call-outs like "buddy" or "dude" which are fine if the person really doesn't know your name, but somewhat disrespectful if they do know your name. In general, though, most people addressed me by my first name, which was my preference, except for my secret desire, to be addressed verbally as Master [First, Last Name} which I thought would be the ultimately best.  In regards to how I treated my contemporaries and their names, I would basically match whatever way that they were treating me.  As for my addressing of adults, the typical way would be Mr. [Last Name], unless they were relatives in which case it would always be Aunt [First Name].   In all of this, I don't remember hearing salutations of Mr. [First Name] being used by anyone to anybody, although I suppose that it might have occurred, occasionally.  However, when I moved to the South, I began to be addressed from time-to-time as Mr. [First Name], which I found to be somewhat intriguing, unusual, and totally unnecessary, since just addressing me by my first name is fine by me, no matter the age of the party addressing me.

While there are probably many reasons, why the South, seems to be the only part of the nation, to which Mr. [First Name] seems to be used somewhat commonly as a typical way to address someone, often of perceived authority, or older, I'm okay with it, as long as it isn't racially based.  That is to say, if only black people used Mr. [First Name] but never white people to me, or if white people only used it as a form of salutation from one white person to another, but never to a black person, I would not be okay with it.  While there probably isn't much doubt, that this form of salutation in the South probably has roots in our previous days of slavery, the fact that it still exists today, is probably fine, because the salutation of Mr. [First Name} seems to be a way of showing respect to another person, without being stuck within the absolute formality of class, social, and racial distinctions that formerly were part and parcel of the South.  In addition, it isn't difficult to respond to the person addressing you as Mr. [First Name] that they need not use the Mister part at all, without unduly upsetting the social mores of that interaction.  Also, I never have an issue with anyone attempting to show either respect or politeness to me, especially if that politeness or respect is genuine as opposed to being something that is formerly impressed against them.

Latin America Pyramids

Virtually every person is aware of to one degree or another, of the Great Pyramid and other lesser pyramids in Egypt, as the Great Pyramid of Giza is after all, the only structure that currently exists that is also part of the master list of the seven wonders of the ancient world.  Impressive as that is, we read at history.com that: "Despite the towering reputation of Egypt’s Great Pyramids at Giza, the Americas actually contain more pyramid structures than the rest of the planet combined."  This means, that right here in the Americas, we are surrounded by pyramids, of great importance, that still exist to this day, to which the most famous of them is the Pyramid of the Sun which resides with its sister Pyramid the Pyramid of the Moon in the ancient city of Teotihuacan, Mexico.  The Sun Pyramid has dimensions of 733 feet across and 246 feet high, making it a truly massive structure, that was believed to have been created around 100 AD and finished perhaps around 200 AD. 

As with all pyramids, the first question, is not so much why, but how?  How was it that this pyramid was built in an age to which it is assumed that humanity was far less advanced, lacking in tools as well as basic engineering knowledge that a pyramid of this size and scope could even be conceived, let alone successfully built, that not even the sands of time has truly diminished it?  Although the Aztecs are generally given credit for discovering the Pyramid of the Sun, historians today, are unsure of what society or what people even created it, although it has been estimated that at its peak, the city of Teotihuacan had a population of 125,000-200,000 people.

The fact that so many pyramids were built in the Americas would imply that the same knowledge and knowhow that was displayed in Egypt, was available to the Americas.  Further to this point, while many people want to believe that the evolution of mankind is a slow and steady process, to which each respective generation learns from previous generations, as we evolve into a more civil and intelligent species, pyramids and marvelous things of this sort, stick out like a sore thumb, as demonstrative proof, that rather than civilization following a straight path to enlightenment, mankind instead both grows and falls, with mastery gain and then lost, only to be re-discovered as if for the very first time.

The Pyramid of the Sun stands as proof positive that it is only through man's own hubris, and self-destructive tendencies, that we are unable to grasp that indeed there is nothing new under the sun.  The builders of these great pyramids understood well that they were subservient to a Higher Power and these pyramids are testimony to that knowledge.  These pyramids were sacred sites, ones of initiation, prayer, and devotion, not made by the hands of ignorant and superstitious fools, but of those directed by an inner light, that created both the vision behind the pyramid but so too the wherewithal to successful build such.

We are told by ancient-code.com that: "The Pyramid of the Sun … the Temple of the Moon, …are in the same layout as Orion’s Belt."  Further that: "Archaeologists have found large quantities of Mica at Teotihuacan…" this in a country that has no native mica whatsoever, a mineral that is known for its properties of being able to withstand high temperatures and voltage because of its innate dielectric strength. 

While the structure of a pyramid can represent many things, such as the representation at its pinnacle as of the all-seeing eye of God, so too it represents in its shape that of e pluribus Unum, or out of many, One.

It is Not a Crime to Defend the Country of Your Birth and Residence

The United States global military presence is undoubtedly without parallel in the annals of history and clearly second-to-none.  For instance, qz.com reports that:  "Altogether, based on information contained in the DoD’s latest Base Structure Report (BSR), the US has bases in at least 74 countries and troops practically all over the world…"  Because the United States takes it upon itself to act as the world's policeman for whatever reasons, the United States consistently involves itself into the affairs of sovereign nations throughout the entire world, again and again and again.  While, such involvement in other countries from a humanitarian, educational, logistical, and benefactor perspective is to be applauded and appreciated, the involvement of US military forces is often something of a completely different nature.

In America, we take it for granted, whether true or not, that our entire population is informed, educated, and literate, along with having adequate housing, acceptable medical care, and being well fed.  While this may be the perceived norm in America as well as in most western nations as well as other first world countries, this is certainly not true for a significant portion of the world at large.  That is to say, results.org states that: "Nearly 1/2 of the world's population — more than 3 billion people — live on less than $2.50 a day."  Further we read on speakingbooks.com that: "Illiteracy threatens over 785 million adults worldwide, translating into one in every five people on the planet."  This means, for a significant portion of the world, people are threaten with both extreme poverty as well as suffering the lack of basic literate skills, so that these people are unable to subsequently form competent viewpoints of global affairs and for the most part would be unable to come to a definitive conclusion as to purpose of any America presence.  Further obfuscating this issue, America itself, often doesn't seem to have consistent and clearly defined objectives on any of its many foreign interventions, so that the decisions of foreign citizens and the "ruling" government within sovereign nations as to whether to aid and abet American interests or to oppose them is guesswork, at best.

Then too there is the very basic issue that most everyone inherently believes that they have the right to defend themselves from attacks both foreign and domestic.  The fact that in your defense that you are massively out-armed, out-maneuvered, out-thought.and out-classed in every aspect of these things, may make your defense utterly futile, but what of it?  Are you to suppose that those that wage war upon you are in reality your liberators or are they your oppressors?  Are these people that lay siege upon your land your emancipators or are they your enslavers?  How is it possible for you, typically poor and uneducated, to know that difference between the two, and in absence of such definitive information, isn't it the better part of valor to protect your own, even until death itself? 

It is not a crime to defend yourself, and your country of your birth and residence from attacks, or to cede even an inch of ground.  You may not have a lot of knowledge, but what you do know is that you have an inherent obligation to protect your family, as well as your community, and further that you have not brought upon yourself this violation of your own natural sovereignty.  So for those in America that delight in tallying up the day's kills of the enemy, recognize that each man, woman, and child whose life has been terminated by your actions, that they were often just doing exactly what you would be doing, if you were in their shoes.

Building Down Rather Than Up

One of the quintessential American dreams is for one day to own your own property, to have your own land, and of course with that land ultimately purchasing or building a residential house upon it.  As you might imagine in a mature country such as America with its phalanx of lawyers and regulations there are plenty of obstacles and mazes that are necessitated in regards to the purchase and pursuit of your particular housing dream.  For instance, in virtually any city in America, there is a height restriction of the structure that you want to build, which may be based on the lot size, the time period of when you bought the property, zoning restriction laws, and the like, not to mention the fact that if you are proposing to build your own custom-built home you will have to create and ultimately get your building permit approved. 

There is, however, another way to contemplate your dream home and that is to recognize that with the exception of land that is bought to which you have either knowingly or unknowingly conveyed your mineral rights, the land that lies beneath your property is yours to develop and to utilize, subject as always, in all probability, to governmental regulation and oversight.  The idea to live underground, so to speak, isn't unique to the human species, as many animals in especially inhospitable climates like to burrow and/or spend considerable time underground such as rodents, foxes, and snakes.  The advantage of living underground is often the fact that the temperature extremes of both hot and cold are significantly mitigated by doing so.

There are, actually, certain towns to which it is fairly common to build virtually the entire structure of the home underground because it is more practical, more cost efficient, and more comfortable.  For the most part, though, when it comes to true underground living it is the fear of being in an enclosed space, trapped beneath ground, with the attendant concerns about oxygen and light that makes a significant portion of people, hesitant about the whole thing.  However, most people when buying land have no intention of actually creating the entire living structure underneath it, but might be intrigued about the possibilities to add additional square footage, sight unseen to the general public, of whatever their mind's desire is for the underground of their property.

While in today's world, underground additions to one's property, are typically the exception and not the rule, in cities throughout the world, to which the cost of land itself is high, combined with onerous regulations for building above ground, there is a strong reason to believe, it not above, than below.  In fact, cites such as Singapore, Beijing, and London all are experiencing a boom in underground development and living.  This trend should continue worldwide because in situations with high population density as well as limited land, it makes good common sense.

It would not be far fetch to believe that in tomorrow's master planned communities, that an option for a true underground addition might be offered to prospective buyers, and for those that already own their own homes, more often we will see serious contemplation that an underground addition to a home might easily allow for the placement of in-laws, or an entertainment center, or gym, or library, without really the neighbors ever even knowing that the Joneses have actually pass them by. 

Black Madonna

According to wisegeek.com:  "There are about 450 to 500 medieval Black Madonna's in Europe, with at least 180 in France."  Apparently, these black Madonna's were created back in medieval times from the 12th through the 15th centuries, to which one standard explanation of this phenomenon attests that because the Madonna was situated near to the burning of candles for so long, that thereby the soot generated darken the Madonna over the years.  Perhaps this explanation would hold more water if there weren't so many Madonna's all over Europe with the same dark characteristics, but because this is so, this indicates strongly that the Madonna as originally conceived was purposely made dark.  This does then lead to the question, but why?

To answer the question in part is to recognize that it is the victors that write the history, and our Western Civilization has been conceptualized in the last five hundred years or so, as primarily Caucasian, and in particular, as light skin, so that in this culture, it makes sense to visualize the Madonna as having the same characteristics in color, even though Jesus, Joseph, the Virgin Mary, are from a prototypical middle eastern heritage which would imply a more swarthy look, as opposed to something that is porcelain white.  All of this is because it is the norm to want to project upon our God, his mystics, and his prophets that in the physical, that they look remarkably similar to us. However, again, why the black Madonna, in Europe no less?

Perhaps the black Madonna originated in reference to the fact that darker soil is considered to be the richest and most organic of soils, so her darkness signifies that she is the epitome of one of our own.  Her darkness heralds that from this good earth, God himself can re-birth Himself so as to redeem us from our missteps and frailties.  That, in fact, Our Lady, is universal, and applies to all cultures, to all people, and thereby to everyone.  It is of vital importance that her presence strengthens us in our belief that as Our Cosmic Lady, that her special annunciation and that her acceptance of such, was made as demonstrative proof that man is not forsaken, but loved.

Our black Madonna makes it easier to understand that she too, is the suffering servant of God, for that her own Son, from her womb, was crucified.  Yet, her dark complexion helps us to more readily recognize that rather than her appearance to us coming across as too purified, too refined, and lacking in substance, that she is indeed one of us, and the personification of what we can aspire to be as she is our devoted and nurturing mother.

In todays color conscious world, we may seem a bit befuddled by the whole phenomena of a black Madonna, but color as a classification, for the separation of a given people, as a dividing line for class distinction, is of recent heritage, as history has typically divided man by classification of birth, faith, and his associated social status as compare to the pigmentation of a person's skin.  Our Divine Lady knows no class distinction, nor faith, nor social status, nor color, only that we all are one in God.

America's 100-Year War against Drugs

Imagine that you in a position to which you are not sure if you are dreaming or whether that you are conscious but in a dreamlike state, whereupon, as you venture forth outdoors and begin your walk your nose becomes aware of the scent of quite obviously marijuana being smoke, then as you turn the corner, you notice what appears to be a bar, and as you walk inside that darkness, you see a couple of pans on an old-fashioned coal-fired stove that seem to be cooking a little something that isn't food, and off in the corner, you see what looks to be a hookah pipe, with something being smoked, but it isn't tobacco or cannabis, it just seems like its opium.  And later as you exit that "bar" you walk into an old-fashion and quaint drugstore, whereupon you observe that one of the items being sold, says "Cocaine toothache drops".   All of this is very puzzling and confusing to you, because the country looks and feels just like America, but you know consciously that it can't be America, until you see a newspaper headline, and the date at the top of the paper, which says 1885.  Yes, indeed, there was a time in America, when marijuana, cocaine, and opium were legal in this country, in an era when man was far freer from onerous State authoritarian rules and regulations.

Today, America, doesn't want you to believe that substances such as cocaine, marijuana, or opium were ever legal, or ever available without strict medical or governmental oversight, but in actuality that was the norm within America as well as most other nations throughout history; it is only in more modern times, that Americans have been so restricted in using substances that are derived from plants and so common to certain areas of the world.  In today's nanny-police state, the government has significant penalties for those that utilize drugs which have been arbitrarily labeled as both dangerous as well as illegal unless such drugs are taken under strict medical supervision and attention.

Yet, through it all, through all of the hysteria, there was a time when all of these illegal substances were legal within America, and the country did not fall apart.  This would strongly imply that State control of these substances are really an excuse for the government to bully around its citizens, or better put, to incarcerate certain citizens that it wishes to imprison or fine or inconvenience because the State as well as its designated agents wish to punish those that do not adhere to its particular political correctness at that time.

The government is forever putting forth propaganda that the laws that it creates in regards to the illicit usage of certain unauthorized drugs are for the betterment and for the protection of society at large, but this is in actuality a smokescreen for their real purpose of both control and as a protection racket for certain favored segments of society.  For instance, if certain medicines that contain opium like derivatives are only available to people if they are patients and properly prescribed to them by medical doctors, than this benefits directly both the medical field as well as in particular, pharmaceutical companies.  After all, the coca leaf, the opium poppy, and cannabis are not difficult plants to grow, cultivate, and nurture, but the State does not wish for you as individual to have such a power, and its penalties for those that ignore this, are incredibly severe and detrimental, so that they can forever remain your master, and you, thy faithful servant.

Why Aren't State Income Taxes--Progressive?

In America, the Federal Income tax is progressive and graduated, meaning that the more taxable income that you have in a given year, the higher the overall tax bracket that you will be subject to, so, for instance, if your filing category is single and you have $25,000 in taxable income, you would be liable for a 10% federal tax rate for the first $9,075 of your taxable income, with the balance of the $15,925 being taxed at a rate of 15%.  If, on the other hand, your filing category is single, and you have $500,000 in taxable income, you will be subject to paying federal taxes for each graduated bracket percentage amount, at the rates of 10%, 15%, 25%, 28%, 33%, 35%, until you reach the threshold of $406,750 to which the income above that amount, which would be $93,250 would be taxed at 38%.

Seeing that the Federal income tax is both progressive and graduated, one would think that in the natural course of things that the State income tax for the State that you reside in, would, in fact, follow the same format, but it does not, in virtually every State of the union.  First off, there are seven States that do not have any State income tax whatsoever.  Out of the remaining forty-three States, there are pretty much only three States with truly meaningful progressive and graduated income tax rates, which are California, New Jersey, and Vermont.  If you are single in California, and have taxable State income of $25,000, you would be subject to a 1% tax rate, graduating to 2% at $7,582 and maxing out at 4% for the balance of your income.  If, you made $500,000 in taxable State income, you would eventually be paying State income taxes at the rate of 11.3%, without even hitting the top rates of 12.3% and 13.3%.  This makes California the closest in structure to how your taxes are treated by the Federal government, meaning that California has the fairest progressive and graduated tax rates in the nation, in the sense that those that earn more, pay considerably more in their percentage rate for taxes.

However, in virtually every other State of the union, and taking $25,000 as the threshold example of income in comparison to income of $500,000 in nearly half of the States, you will be paying the exact same percentage as your tax rate.  That is to say, for instance, if you live in Mississippi, the maximum State income tax rate is 5%, and that maximum is achieved for income at $10,000 and above.  Yes, that is right, in Mississippi and some twenty-odd other states, individuals making $25,000 and above are taxed at the exact same percentage as somebody making twice or twenty times the amount of money that you are making.  Also, with the exception of the three States previously mentioned, all the other States of this union, pretty much tax their constituents at essentially the same basic rate with very modest increases in percentage based on income, or in essence, a flat State income tax.

While most States do have on paper what would appear to be a progressive State income tax, in actuality, the threshold in most of these States to be subjected to the highest income tax rate in the State is held ridiculously low, and/or the percentage increase in graduated tax rates is as modest as simply going from perhaps 5% to 6%.  This signifies that most States have little or no interest in taxing their residents at real progressive rates, which benefits the few at the expense of the many.

We Don't Need More Laws; the Heart of Man Must Change

Since its independence from Great Britain, and the institution of its ratified Constitution that applied to all the States of the union, America has become a nation of laws.  We have laws that cover what would appear to be every conceivable thing, to wit, we have local laws, State laws, Federal laws, consumer laws, environment laws, tax laws, usage laws, and so forth, so that this is truly a nation of many laws.  We have so many laws in America, laws that contradict or even override another law, and laws that are outdated, senseless, or aren't even good law to begin with, that there is not a single person or a single entity within America that knows, understands, and can comprehend all of our laws.

But be that as it may, each year, each month, each day, the judicial system creates even more laws, for a lot of reasons, both good and bad, as if the mere creation of a given new law, will somehow correct, alleviate, or fix some perceived wrong without any unintended consequences of such a law.  It would be one thing, if the fundamental foundation of America was inherently flawed, but in fact, America's Constitution is a legal document, the Supreme law of the land, that is exceedingly well written and thought out.  This means, for the most part, what this country doesn't really need is more laws, what it truly needs to do instead is to take to heart the philosophy that we ought to treat our neighbor as our self, and also that our inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, come from our Creator, that we should also indeed honor as well as love.

The Constitution as it stands today has all the principles that we really need, in order to live a fair and quality life. We require only that the institutions that are set to apply law have the courage to do the right thing and to apply it equally to all, which is why the Supreme Court motto is "equal justice under law".  Unfortunately, throughout a lot of American history up until this very day, justice has not been applied equally, although we would like to believe as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stated that: "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice."  That bending of the arc towards justice can only come about, not from still more laws, or new interpretation of laws, or this law or that law, but instead from the changing of the heart of man, himself. 

All of the justice, all of the change, that a reasonable person wants in America, is available to all of us, if instead of looking upon our neighbor, as something or somebody to be struck down, or hindered, or cheated, or fooled, or any of a thousand wrongful things, we instead look upon our neighbor as a fellow brother, worthy of our love and respect that one human being is obligated to give to another.  Most people, inherently recognize the difference between what is right and what is wrong, but few are willing to live by that code attributed to John Wesley to: "Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can."

We desire to be perfect, because God is perfect

There is no score that can be higher than someone correctly answering all the questions on a given school test, which equates to a score of 100, or 100%.  There is no higher achievement in your life work than performing your work at such a high level that this work is recognized by your peers as outstanding, or a virtual perfection.  Although many people believe that a score of 98% is almost the same as 100%, it is and it isn't.   A score of 98% cannot be the same or the equivalent to 100%, because there is room for improvement on the lower score, therefore there is error, and any error by definition means an achievement of less than 100%, and consequently is less than perfect.  Yet we hear day by day, that the pursuit of perfection or to be a perfectionist, is somehow an Achilles heel and to be avoided at all costs.  While there is some truth that even a great virtue, taken to an extreme, can become a flaw or even a vice, the desire to do your utmost, the desire for accuracy, correctness, and rightness, is well worth pursuing and is almost always a cardinal virtue of any great discovery or accomplishment made by man.  The pursuit of perfection is why mankind was able to fly, orbit, and to land a spacecraft onto the moon and later to return our astronauts safely back to earth, because without the scientific pursuit of excellence which gave no quarter to mistakes or substandard reasoning, the result could quite easily have been disastrous.

Then there is the fact that our Creator is perfection itself, and as his created beings in His image, we have an innate desire to be perfect, just as a child has an inborn desire to please his father.  In Matthew 5:48 we read: "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."  At first glance this seems to be a rather unfair burden to place upon a mere human, but everything is indeed possible in Christ, or we would not be instructed to become perfect.  The way of perfection, is however, a path not often trod by those of a material inclination, and this pursuit can only be accomplished with the mindset which recognizes that there is a higher power, beyond our mind as well as our limiting ego and it is to that power that we must surrender ourselves to.  

It is indeed unfortunate that so often man limits himself only to the usage of his five senses as if the material world is master of it all, yet we intuitively know that this cannot be so, as the highest order of being, cannot possibly be that which has a known beginning and a known end.  Even our great sun, we are told by esteemed scientists, has a finite life, of some estimated ten billion years, so invaluable to our material life as the sun is, it is not perfection, nor ever will it be.  The perfection that we seek, the perfection that we must know, is in God, and we can only find this by having a deep abiding desire to know this Truth, no matter the false steps and missteps taken along the way.  The material life that we live in is darkness tempered with artificial light, whereas God is absolute light, and when we as the seeker align with the true temple of our Lord, our transformation will be instant, because when darkness meets light, the surrender of darkness is instantaneous as if it all was just an illusion to begin with.

The Rockefeller Dynasty

America claims it is a meritorious society, somewhat true, somewhat not, but unfortunately when it comes to money and power it seems that most people who obtain lots of it, have an innate tendency to behave in such an undemocratic manner so as to believe that their vision, their power, and their money, should never end, because they and their legacy surely know what is best.  America was suppose to be a refuge for those seeking religious freedom in which it is a basic tenet of Christianity that you cannot serve both God and mammon as we read in Matthew 6:24: "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon."  This implies quite strongly that those that have immense monetary power within this country are inherently inclined to have principles that are inimical to America.  Walter Huston in "The Treasure of Sierra Madre" said it best, "I know what gold does to men's souls."

While America has plenty of dynasties, such as the Du Pont's, the Mellon's, the Busch's, the Hearst's, and so forth, there is just something particularly compelling about the original John D. Rockefeller, who as reported by forbes.com was at one point: "… reigning over a monopoly that refined as much as 90 percent of America’s oil."  John D. Rockefeller along with his brother William Rockefeller and four other notables, created Standard Oil, which ultimately was dissolved under the Sherman Antitrust Act and split into 34 separate companies.  Yet, years later, Exxon, formerly Standard Oil of New Jersey, as well as Mobil, formerly Standard Oil of New York, would merge into ExxonMobil, and become the most profitable multinational corporation in the history of America, in fact, the five most profitable years for any corporation in American history, are all held by Exxon/Mobil.

The Rockefellers' rose to great temporal power, for instance Nelson Rockefeller was Governor of New York from 1959 through 1973, and later Vice President of the United States from 1974-1977.  Winthrop Rockefeller was Governor of Arkansas from 1967-1971.   Jay Rockefeller was the Governor of West Virginia from 1977-1985 and later the United States Senator of West Virginia from 1985-2015.  In regards to banking, Equitable Trust Company to which the largest stockholder of such was John D. Rockefeller was acquired by Chase Bank, to which Winthrop W. Aldrich was chairman, and himself the brother-in-law of John D. Rockefeller.  David Rockefeller began working for Chase bank in 1946, to which Chase later merged with the Bank of Manhattan, eventually becoming Chairman of the Board of Chase Manhattan for twenty years, which ultimately was merged into JPMorgan Chase, the biggest bank in America, with over $2 trillion in assets.

The Rockefeller name is well known throughout America, with the Rockefeller Foundation as well as the Rockefeller Center, being their most recognizable standing institutions.  The Rockefeller dynasty has been empowered for nearly 150 years, to which the Rockefellers' have been able to pass along their money and their influence to generation after generation, without any recognizable end.  This means that if you are so fortunate as to be born into the Rockefeller dynasty than you can take for granted things that most Americans will either never have or on the other hand have to obtain by their own merit and hard work.  Sure, the Rockefellers' should be entitled to pass along something for their progeny but not so much that the Rockefellers' become a perpetual aristocracy within America; because remember that a country that will not dip its national flag, not for a king, and not for another country, should certainly not do so for the likes of a Rockefeller.

The Purchase of a Car Isn't What it Use to Be

Today's American automobile manufacturers, both domestic as well as foreign, are typically only about the basic accomplishment of one thing, which is to extract as much money as they can from the public.  The cars being sold today are presented and priced in such a manner so as to maximize profit as being the primary objective, with everything else presented as so much smoke and mirrors.  While it can be said that the cars that are manufactured today contain some wonderful features, are reliable, durable, and perform their functions admirably, it cannot be said on the other hand that they are priced to benefit the consumer.

There was a time in America, to which led by Henry Ford and his assembly line vision, that the objective as explained by Ford was to: "…. build a car for the great multitude….""… constructed of the best materials, by the best men…" "… The simplest designs that modern engineering can devise…"  In 1909 when the Model-T was first introduced, a total of 10,666 cars were sold at the price of $825, but with diligent improvements in assembly, labor, and economies of scale, by 1925, there were nearly two million Model-T cars sold, of which the basic Model-T sold for $260 and the touring version of it sold for $290.  The per capita GDP in 1925 was approximately $800 and a car selling for $275 in 1925 would be sold today at about $3,725, inflation adjusted.  However, there aren't any new cars for sale at that price in America, with the Nissan Versa at about $13,000 being pretty much the lowest cost new car available in America.  This signifies that despite all of our advances, in technology and knowhow, labor improvement, and whatnot that the individual cost of buying a vehicle has gone up considerably in America.

While times have changed, and while obviously cars of today aren't the same in features and performance as they were back in Henry Ford's day, the principle of car manufacturing has also changed and changed for the worse.  Henry Ford's objective was to make an affordable car for the people, one that could be purchased by an honest hard-working America, as opposed to providing transportation just for the privileged of America. Ford believed in giving his customers the greatest utility value possible for the dollar, whereas today's manufacturers too often believe that they should instead do everything possible to maximize their own profit by any means possible.

In India, they have a city car, which is the Tata Nano which in its most economical configuration sells for about $3,132.  While to date the Tata Nano has not been the success that Tata imagined, the basic concept is sound and a throwback to a different era when the objective was to build cars that were both useful in their function as well as affordable to the common man.  In America, those of the millennial generation are often stuck in a frustrating cycle to which they have both massive student loans as well as disappointing job prospects, signifying that the income that they make barely permits them to scrape by.   What they really don’t need, however, is a car payment that is too large for their salary, lengthy in time, and just serves to increase their financial burden, as they suffer endlessly the ill effects of too much debt.

Prayer

Just about everyone prays to God at some time for some reason, with some people praying only in the most dire of emergencies, whereas others pray at particular scheduled times and/or events, while still others prayonly when they feel the need or desire to do so.  When it comes to the actual style of praying, there is quite a variety of prayer used, to which some people merely request God's beneficence and wisdom in their life, others simply pray the Lord's Prayer, still others make specific requests of God for themselves or for others, and so forth.  It can be said, that prayer to our Lord in all of its forms has its merits and that every prayer offered to God has its place.  Yet, it can also be said, that few take the words of Matthew 6:8 to heart which reads: "…for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him," signifying that if we do all the talking during prayer, rather than instead petitioning God for His wisdom and love, we err in our prayer to our own detriment.  Simply put, if we present to God a laundry list of things that we believe that we need or desire or want to occur, this signifies to God that we perceive that our wisdom is greater than His.

Of course, you could then argue if God already knows what we have need of, why pray at all, since it would already appear that God has this covered, so to speak.  The primary reason to pray to our Lord is to submit to Him that we are able, willing, and ready to communicate and to receive his wisdom into our lives, into our thoughts, and into our actions.  In order, though, to be in that receptive mood, we first have to condition our mind as well as our body to listen to our Lord, which means that we must empty our mind as much as we possibly can of our own desires, of our own will, of our own ego, and present ourselves in a manner of supplication and surrender to our Creator.  In Luke 5:16 we read: "And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed," even the Christ, knew that distractions, interruptions, and the normal busyness of everyday life would all act as interference to the reception of the channel of the Godhead to his heart.

The most effective and valid prayer comes not from the mere reciting of prayerful intonations but instead that prayer must come from deep inside of the heart of the petitioner, to which there should be a palpable sensation that in your quiet contemplation you are now reaching out to touch the very source of all wisdom, itself.  There can be nothing greater in this life than a true connection with God.  The Bible is full of stories of great prophets that have spoken to chosen disciples, as well as those who have heard the voice of God Himself.  To hear God's voice, to feel it in your very being, is possible for all of us, but first we must quiet ourselves, surrender ourselves, and yes have within us a great, ineffable longing to touch the very finger of Creation, itself.

Integrity and Dishonesty

Anytime, that a person perceives that an organization is unfair to them, another person is unfair to them, or life in general is unfair to them, there is an inherent and natural tendency to want to make things right.  So that if you feel, for example, that you are underpaid there is a certain predilection to want to perform your work duties in such a manner that you appear to be working harder than what you really are.  If, for instance, another person clearly takes advantage of you in a personal or business affair, there often is a desire to want to get even with that person, one way or another.  Further, if life is treating you wrong, there is a strong wish to see that things are rectified, somehow or another.   In all of these things, your opportunity to present yourself as a person of integrity, despite being in circumstances that are unfair or uncomfortable or biased against you, is often pushed up against your desire to strike back, frequently, without taking into full account the ramifications of doing so.  Too often we are quick to judge, quick to react, way too quick, and an action in motion, good or bad, cannot be taken back. 

Many people are quick to point out when they see that a certain person or company is corrupt, but often are rather slow to admit or to recognize their own shortcomings.  But the fact of the matter is, we seldom can control other people or organizations, but we do have the power to control ourselves and how we react to various undesirable things and circumstances.  We have all heard it said that "two wrongs don't make a right", yet how few of us really believe this in our actions.  In order for anybody to become dishonest, there is at some point, a conscious decision to do something that clearly is wrong, with perhaps the justification that this is payback, or a form of justice, or liberty, or whatever.  Yet, having taken this action you have not actually resolved anything in a manner bespeaking a person of integrity.

Bad things are going to happen, and while life is not about being a floor mat for people to walk and trample upon, it also isn't about always retaliating against those that wrong you.   So often people want to justify their response to a perceived wrong or slight, as if that self-made justification will somehow make it all seem right, but oftentimes it really does not.  When one person drops to a low level of cheating, backbiting, gossip, and hurtful words, you do not need to directly respond back to it, you do not need to add fuel to the fire, and often should not do so.  Rather, look at the actions taken against you as a challenge, as a puzzle, to be solved, through rightful actions and careful contemplation.  Always try to give yourself the opportunity to rise above the fray, to put yourself in the other person's shoes, to recognize that someone that is slow to anger, that can maintain emotional control of themselves, is a person that is master of himself, and often a man of real integrity.

Cursive Writing is Obsolete

In 2010, Common Core standards, no longer required the teaching of cursive writing in elementary schools.  Since that time, many school systems around the country have dropped cursive writing and replaced it with something of more pertinence, such as keyboarding. While on the one hand, the fact that cursive writing is no longer being taught in most public schools, seems like a good thing, since, for instance, most everything that you view in either print media or on any of your online media devices is virtually never in cursive; on the other hand though, the two most important documents in American history, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were both written in cursive. This means, that when viewing a replication of the actual document, today's youth will have great difficulty in reading: English!

While it is understandable that we live in a digital age and that we cannot teach everything to our children, the dropping of cursive writing may be a mistake, as the difficulty in obtaining decent cursive skills both of writing as well as reading is not something that is all that strenuous, and the learning of this skill has its value.  For instance, although we may never read the original cursive of the Constitution, we might have a desire to read old letters from our parents or of our grandparents that were written in cursive.  Also, we would probably like to develop our own signature so as to sign legal documents and the like.  Additionally, in an era when native-born Americans seem only to be able to speak English and no other foreign language, it seems a shame to degenerate even further to such a degree that we can only read print characters, and not cursive.

While we can appreciate the gift of being able to effortlessly type in characters with our keyboard, so that learning good keyboard skills most definitely has value, it is a fundamental mistake if in so doing, our ability to print actual letters from our hand to a piece of paper is impacted, negatively.  That is to say, if cursive writing is dead, to which virtually all cursive writing is done with physical pen onto paper, than what is to say, that at some near point in the future, that actual hand printing will too, become obsolete.  It is imperative, that our children know how to form and to write their own letters and words onto a physical piece of paper.  The accurate writing and formulation of these letters are critical to formulation of developing a good vocabulary, as well as leading to the proper construction of sentences and overall clear thinking.  Today's word processors are very powerful and with their automatic spellchecking ability they can correct effortlessly, for the most part, each and every error that you make in the spelling of words, but while this is beneficial, it is also a crutch.  Additionally, the effort of physically writing words integrates both cognitive as well as language skills into a graphic art form.

In America, it appears the days of cursive writing are pretty much dead.  On a lot of levels, this is probably unfortunate, however, it's somewhat understandable because most people spend very little time either reading or writing cursive.  Nonetheless, we must be careful to recognize that the skill and value of being able to accurately print and write our own characters and subsequently words and coherent sentences, must first be accomplished using a real pencil onto paper, in order to properly formulate and develop our own cognitive abilities.